Pensioners’ Punch-up at South London Bingo Hall

Under normal circumstances, a punch-up in South London would be anything but newsworthy. After all, who hasn’t seen angry words being exchanged down the pub of a Friday night when one guy accidentally spills his beer over another, or someone knocks another driver’s car with their trolley in the supermarket car-park? However, the last place you’d expect to see fists of fury flying is down your local bingo hall, but that’s exactly what happened at one club in Sutton earlier this month. You might imagine that one of the visitors to the club didn’t take too kindly to missing out on a Full House win to another player, but the incident actually occurred (of all places) in the lunch queue.

As two elderly women waited in line to get lunch at Riva Bingo in Sutton, South London, it’s claimed that the younger of the two (aged 72) told the older one (aged 80) to hurry along before calling her a “stupid old woman.” It’s not exactly the kind of friendly banter you’d expect from fellow bingo players. However things escalated even further when the 80-year old woman reacted angrily to the other’s comments, and gave her a “mouthful of abuse” prior to punching the 72-year-old in the face, leaving her with minor bruising.

According to a spokesperson for Sutton Police, the 80-year-old was cautioned before being interviewed at her home, and they do not intend to take the matter any further. No-one was available for comment at the Riva Bingo club in Sutton.

It seems as though aggro is in the air in the Sutton area this month, as two days earlier before the pensioners’ punch-up, a 73-year-old man was admitted to St. Helier Hospital following a fight over a greenhouse on a local allotment in Belmont. After an argument broke out between the victim and another man (aged 64), the victim was punched, leading the police to attend the scene and caution the younger man for common assault.

Have any of our readers even seen, or been the victim of verbal or physical violence whilst playing bingo at their local hall or social club? Perhaps you expect more decorum from the older generation, or maybe you think the whole bingo experience causes players to get stressed out, leading to passions running high? Do you think these types of crimes should be taken more seriously by the police and the clubs?